American woman, Peg Johnson, and the two soon began a romantic relationship. After dating for two years, they were married and settled into a house in Portland, where Ó Domhnaill lived for the next fourteen years. Nightnoise In 1983, after seven years with the Bothy Band and several years collaborating with the master fiddler Kevin Burke, Ó Domhnaill began searching for a new project and a new sound. He met Billy Oskay in Portland, and the two began a new collaboration focused on a new and innovative music that integrated traditional Irish, jazz, and classical chamber music. This collaboration between the American violinist and Irish guitarist created a unique blend of musical forms. Together, they composed and recorded songs in Oskay's Portland home and were pleased with the result. In late 1983, Ó Domhnaill's music career was altered when William Ackerman at Windham Hill Records heard one of the tracks recorded at Oskay's home. Ackerman soon offered Ó Domhnaill and Oskay a contract with Windham Hill Records. The tracks they recorded at Oskay's home were mixed and released in 1984 on their album Nightnoise. The album represented a real departure from Ó Domhnaill's Bothy Band roots, and the mellow, ambient instrumental style incorporating jazz and classical elements and forms full of spirituality almost defined what would be called New Age music. In 1985, Mícheál and his sister Tríona (vocals, clavinet) joined the two Scottish brothers Phil Cunningham (accordion, keyboard, whistle, bodhran) and Johnny Cunningham (fiddle) to form the group Relativity. Together they released two critically successful albums: the self-titled Relativity (1985) and Gathering Pace (1987). In 1987, Tríona and Irish-American flutist Brian Dunning joined Ó Domhnaill and Oskay to form the band Nightnoise. The quartet's first album Something of Time was released by Windham Hill Records in 1987. It was followed by At the End of the Evening (1988) and The Parting Tide (1990). These albums received significant commercial and critical acclaim, and helped the group develop an impressive reputation touring the United States, Japan, and Europe. Their music effectively combined "original acoustic chamber music with an Irish feel mixing jazz, classical, folk and new age idioms." Their original music made full use of the Ó Domhnaill's folk background, the folk/jazz combinations of Skara Brae, Brian Dunning's jazz background, and Bill Oskay's classical influences. Nightnoise gave Mícheál the opportunity to expand his musical vocabulary as well as his audience, while